Power outages and work and general non-computer-ness delayed this post.

Have I mentioned before what a cool guy Bill Goldberg is? I know I have, at least once or twice in the past dozen years or so. I first met him when he joined WCW (and still used both names for wrestling). I *think* it was in Jacksonville, FL but it could have been anywhere on the southern circuit; I had friends on the WCW crew and was at tons of shows in those days.

I was behind the arena, painting Sting faces on little kids while waiting for a friend to find me, when Goldberg showed up to chat with a few folks. This guy was big enough to seat four people in his shadow alone. He was pretty new then, didn't have rabid fans climbing all over themselves to get autographs, so he just hung around without too many people bothering him. I talked with him a while- about fishing, as I recall- and then he asked if I was going in to watch the matches. I said no, I hadn't bought a ticket. (I had only planned to hit some after-parties that time.) He gave me a ticket, and even though I already thought he was the Next Big Thing, he made a fan that day. Mostly because he was cool enough to just talk to people one on one.

When I later discovered he was a Car Guy I liked him even more. (Yenko Camaro? I really should hate him for that. He has one and I don't. *growlyface*)

I've run into him on several occasions, and Goldberg has never failed to be one of the most accommodating and accessible guys around. At a car show he signed a t-shirt for my little brother, who'd gotten sick and spent the afternoon sleeping in the truck and missed meeting him. I'm always impressed by his dedication to his fans. At the Oceana airshow, despite a torn rotator cuff, he continued signing autographs until the line was gone even though he was grimacing after every one. He also posed with me with the Lawman Mustang, one of the photos I'd wanted and hadn't managed to acquire at Carlisle.

I really can't give enough props to Goldberg. I don't ask for autographs anymore, but if he's at an event I always make it a point to stop by to watch the fan interaction and snap a few photos. If you happen to run across Goldberg at an event, take the time to do the same. He'll impress the hell out of you (and especially your kids.) Side note: my 6'4", 240-lb husband said "Man, being next to that guy makes me feel small. That's a weird feeling." It's just the presence he has; like a giant redwood, he's larger than life but as down-to-earth as can be.

Forget Jay Leno. My current dream is to see Bill Goldberg's car collection up close. Oh, and attend Barrett-Jackson, but that's another story.

Oceana Airshow 2010

Thanks to crappy wireless service at the beach house, pics and recap won't be up day-of-show. Pics soon, I promise. Brief summary: JET NOISE JET NOISE JET NOISE SWEET TEA GRITS AND JET NOISE! And no, that is not a complaint. I'll be on an adrenaline high for days.
*UPDATE* made it home, Impala ran like a... well, an impala. Sorting pics in progress.

A few years ago we went to witness a bit of automotive history involving a one-of-a-kind Mustang, its current owner Bill Goldberg, its former owner and a Ford exec down at Carlisle. Story is here. Goldberg had the car at the Airshow today which surprised me, as I hadn't seen it mentioned on the schedule. Made my freakin' day though. I got to see the Lawman Mustang again. Add that to Blue Angels, C-130 JATO, FA/18 Super Hornet and all the other birds and yeah, it was a perfect day.

Quickie: how can you tell a man is a real Car Guy? He drops to the ground on the flightline to crawl under his car and pull out the tow hooks instead of expecting someone else to do it.

I live! But my cars don't...

RIP Bruce Bronco

1996-2009

I've not had a lot of time to blog, between work/househunting/other stuff. Here's a recap of the past year's events:

January:
On his way to work at 3 AM, Hubby hit a patch of black ice, slid into the side of the mountain, flipped, and skidded down the road on the roof/windshield of our beloved Bronco. Hub was fine, no injuries... Bruce was toast.


So, we were truckhunting again. Late one night (why is it always late at night when I see these things?) I spotted a Ford pickup along the lines of what he wanted... I was kinda meh because I hated the stiff seats and never was too fond of that bodystyle... but he fell in trucklust and bought it anyway. It's a nice one, but I was really hoping to go back to a Chevy.

We're still going with the blue theme. The truck is the same color as my Impala. It's the FX4 offroad version, with a leather interior and the bigger 5.4l engine. HE likes it, and as long as he keeps the rubber side down, it's all good.

Spring/Summer:
Carlisle, of course. We went to the Ford, GM and Chrysler shows this year. Test-drove a few, loved the new Ford Fusion Hybrid, wasn't too impressed with the Mustang. I'm still too short to drive one. It was an El Camino celebration at GM, which made me go *squeeee!* That and the Grand National and the Impalas made GM my fave show this year. The new Camaro does look better than the prototype we saw a couple years back, but it still doesn't grab me like the new Challenger does.

I got to go "behind the ropes" to sit in this $250,000 resto-mod '59 Impala. I managed to avoid peeing on the upholstery from excitement.. go me!

Hubby checking out the new Camaro. He liked it; I was too busy drooling over the Elkes.

Late Summer:
We gave my '73 Buick Electra to our nephew when he got his license. The kid did a lot of work, fixing it up and getting it ready to go. His mom didn't want him to have it at first, but she came around when she realized bigger cars are generally safer than these new little tin cans... and nephew proved this point, dramatically, in August.

August:
We get a call in the wee hours one morning. Like his uncle, nephew has flipped a car at 3 AM and walked away from it. He fell asleep driving home and ran off the road. Well, 5600 lbs of vintage Buick, with 50-mph momentum behind it, doesn't stop for a whole lot... took out a guiderail and a telephone pole (3 pieces) before it flipped and rolled, landing upside down in the creek. Kid's got a broken nose, and would have suffered far worse had he been in anything smaller or lighter. Buick is, of course, toast.

RIP Bodacious "Bo" Buick
1973-2009

I'm never buying a small car. I don't care WHAT the Obamverment wants me to do, or if I have to take a 3rd job picking tomatoes to pay for the gas... two of my family have miraculously survived horrible wrecks that probably would have killed them in a tin-can econobox. That and seat belts saved em, and no doubt some divine intervention.

We're now out of surplus cars, although Dad has his eye on... yeah you guessed it... another Buick. *sigh*

It's Chrome Season!!!!

The car show season 2008 unofficially kicked off this past weekend with the Spring Carlisle event.
Schedule for 2008 is here.

We didn't go to Carlisle last weekend, but have plans to attend the Ford, GM, Chrysler and Truck Nats. The redheaded woman gravitating towards chrome and tailfins like a crow to sparklies will be me. Just follow the trail of drool. (Yeah I know... thousands of people there blah blah blah... I manage to get found regardless.)

Other plans for the year include a handful of local/regional shows and hopefully Hershey in the fall. You know we can't pass a car show, no matter what kind of agenda was otherwise planned... as I've said before, we were an hour late to our own wedding party because someone had the audacity to hold a show along our travel route. :-P

The AACA Museum in Hershey is a must-do this year, as their theme is tailfins! The last time we went, the window display was a gorgeous and pristine Buick Grand National, which I salivated over for a good half-hour. If you're out that way it's definitely worth a side trip.

In non-auto (but still vehicular) plans, I want to get to an airshow this year. There's one in Atlantic City and others in neighboring states, along with the Blue Angels 2008 schedule. Unfortunately the AC show does not feature the Blue Angels this year so a longer road trip may be in the works if I get singlemindedly determined to see my Blues. And Harrier. And B1B. And... okay, you get the idea. It's been 5 or 6 years since I've been to an airshow and the withdrawals are kicking in hard.

Also, I'd love to visit one of the military aircraft museums with an SR-71 Blackbird on display. I've always wanted to see one myself instead of just photos. *Most. Awesome. Plane. Ever.*

Once the weather here makes up its mind (70 degrees/35 degrees) the classics will be out again, and I'll be able to snap some pics for the blog. Happy happy joy joy!

Blue Christmas

That's my (!) Electra, hangin' out in the snow. I just liked the photo.

Oh what fun it is to ride...

I got a car for Christmas. We already kind of had the car; it's been sitting out back for a month or so, awaiting nicer weather so Hub can put the new gear box on it. But Dad made a deal... we "officially" got that one and my sister got the mint-green Cougar she's been using. It'll save him some money on insurance and "thin the herd" a bit.

So yeah. Remember that blue '73 Buick Electra 4-door that's been featured on here before? That's the one. The blue whale. The tuna boat. Bo the Buick. I almost wish we could drive it today... going after-Christmas shopping and that thing would hold a LOT of half-price gift wrap. Enough for several future holidays. Could hold the entire family, all their bags, three cups of coffee and a box of Dunkin Donuts, with room in the trunk for groceries, all without squishing the gift wrap. And with plenty of legroom for everyone.

I want a bumper sticker that says "My other car got eaten by this one."

More Accessories

I need to get a new picture of the Impala on here. That means I have to wash it... been waiting for a day when it's not raining, sleeting, or snowing, with a night temp above freezing... it may well be April before that happens, but we'll see. It rained the other evening, turning into freezing rain when the temp dropped after dark, which left icy roads and a nice shiny hardshell finish on the Imp. I couldn't get the doors open. This year I had the presence of mind to NOT store the de-icer inside the car, though. Yay me!

The other day, upon seeing my car for the first time, someone immediately mentioned the non-stock Buick-style portholes on the fenders. *grin* So far he's been the only one to notice. I can't say anything though... Hubby got me a set of smoke-tinted wind deflectors for the windows and put them on yesterday, and I didn't notice till this morning... but they look great, like they came with the car (as they should have). They work great too. I like being warm in the car, but I hate breathing heated air, so I usually have a window cracked regardless of the weather. It was raining on the way home and the deflectors did their job. (One of the very few things I didn't like about the Imp was that rain and washer fluid came off the windshield and straight in the window, dripping directly onto the power window and lock buttons. No more!)

Midnight blue is hard as heck to keep clean... been running it through the hand-wash with the big hot-air dryer at the end, so it won't freeze shut with me in it (had that happen with the Bronco once, felt like an idiot, trapped in my own vehicle in the grocery-store parking lot) but haven't made it there since the winter weather kicked it up a notch.

Other news: just sold my nearly-new set of snow tires from Buick #2 (gone). Buick #3 (still for sale!) just got a new power steering gear box, but the install will have to wait until it's nicer outside. We've determined that the Imp is actually Buick #4 in disguise. Brother slid on bad road and wrecked his car... apparently Subaru parts ain't cheap, and Subies with AWD are NOT impervious to slippery roads. Motor oil costs too dang much these days; I remember when the cheap stuff was 88 cents a quart, and that wasn't too long ago. My preferred Castrol is almost 3 bucks a quart now. Gas here is "down" to $2.99/gallon, from $3.29. Why can't I find citrus-scented car fresheners anymore? What's with all these weird scents? I do not want my car smelling like green tea, or musk, or tahitian sunset or whatever. I just. want. orange.